The First, Official Dread of Work

Park Chanyeol fixed his Giorgio Armani suit and tie, his demeanor as stoic as always. He ran his hand firmly down his chest and flattened the small creases that emerged. He would have to talk to the maids about that – common mistakes should not be taken lightly. He smoothened his tie out, laying it properly, then grabbed his briefcase that was placed atop of his bed, which held the important documents he had to go through for the day.

He ran his fingers on his hair, making sure that they were in place for the last time, and headed out of his room and towards the dining room where he found his chef, Do Kyungsoo, placing his usual healthy, diet meal in the dining table. Chanyeol sat at the very center, glancing at the empty seats before him, and kept his face as stoic as possible although he felt pained on the inside.

“Kyungsoo,” he greeted his chef, slightly smiling on his behalf. Despite Chanyeol’s usual seriousness during work, he was kind and gentle to some of his employees, and truth to be told, Kyungsoo had been the closest worker he had before and even after he changed his personality. Of course, that didn't change much of his stone-like camouflage these days.

“Good morning, Chanyeol,” the chef greeted, his usual big, doe eyes staring at his boss. He didn’t mind speaking informally at the latter since Chanyeol ordered him to be comfortable at him before. “Rough night?” He asked, noticing the dark bags under Chanyeol’s eyes.

“Slightly, yeah. There was too much work yesterday, like any other day though.”

There were no more words exchanged after that statement, seeing as how Kyungsoo didn’t bother to respond afterwards knowing that his boss doesn’t approve of too much talk when he eats. Kyungsoo is also aware that he didn’t approve of deep conversations either, so instead, he bowed ninety-degrees at his boss before scurrying towards the kitchen, helping the kitchen maids clean the mess that they had left from preparing Chanyeol’s food.

Chanyeol deeply sighed, inhaling the usual silence in the air as he ate. Only the occassional sound of silverware, plates and cutlery had filled the noise in the air, the atmosphere feeling quite eerie – something Chanyeol had grew accustomed to. After a few bites and sips from his morning coffee, he softly dabbed his lips from the napkin that was placed on his lap and stood up, deciding that he had no more appetite.

If summed, he only ate one-tenth portion of the food Kyungsoo served, although that much was already a lot seeing as how Kyungsoo prepared a feast, like always.

He didn’t know why, but he felt agonizingly lonely today, as if something was reminding him of how lonely he was and how lonelier he will be in the future. Was he being sentimental? Yes, maybe. But it was true. How can you not deduce the future when you're lonely?

He swiftly passed the hallway and headed out of his house where his car was already prepped and ready. His chauffer help the door open for him, so he swiftly slid inside and made himself as comfortable as he could manage. The chauffer immediately ran to the driver’s seat knowing that his boss didn’t want to arrive late for work.

Normally, CEO’s wouldn’t bother going to work late, especially since they had the highest position in their companies, but Chanyeol was different. Like a typical employee, he had grown accustomed into getting to work really early, even earlier than most of his employees

He believed that if the boss was early, his employees should be early as well like chicks following their mother hen.

Soon enough, they arrived at the company, his employees scampering towards the building bowing their head respectfully and making way for the CEO as he walked gracefully inside, not bothering to reply.

He passed by the semi-long line of employees lining up on the normal elevators and pushed the up button to his private elevator as he reached in front of it. He waited for a couple of seconds before a Ding emerged, and soon enough, the doors opened and in came him, his elevator reaching his floor in no time.

“Good morning, sir,” a woman’s voice had greeted him as soon as he came near his office. He glanced briefly at the woman who was stationed at the desk just outside of his office, her name and her position plucked on the acrylic plate placed on the desk. “Choi Hana, Secretary,” it read.

He immediately recognized her as the woman he had interviewed yesterday, his eyes immediately assessing her attire. She wore a tight, floral tank under her brown, blazer, which made her chest quite noticeable, though not much as to make her look ty. In fact, it looked elegant on her. She also wore a brown pencil skirt that matched her blazer, along with a gold necklace around her neck that topped her attire. She now had a name plate plucked at the left side of her blazer, holding her name.

Overall, she looked professional, good enough for Chanyeol’s taste.

Despite that, he was also surprised to see that she had indeed arrive even earlier than her. He didn’t expect her to come to work earlier than most of his employees that had been working under his company for years – even decades.

“Morning,” he mumbled, slightly surprising himself for replying.

Hana bowed, not lifting her head until her boss had entered his office. She swiftly followed afterwards, her steps following her boss’ until she stood farther from his desk and waited until he sat.

“What’s today’s agenda?” Chanyeol inquired, not bothering to look at her as he arranged the files he had left behind yesterday. Surprisingly, the files that he had left scattered last night had been well-organized on his desk, much to his pleasure.

She was already proving herself better then Kim Jongdae.

He quirked his eyebrow in interest before dropping his briefcase on top of his desk, swiftly taking the documents out and organizing it on top of his desk. He made sure that it was separated from the rest of the files. Truth to be told, he was impressed though slightly taken aback as she had bluntly gone inside his office the very first day she arrived.

Then again, it was her job, and she did it well enough, so he just shrugged it off and proceeded on his own work.

“You have a meeting with Mr. Wu today, along with Mr. Zhang and Mr. Huang one hour from now. After that, you’ll also have a meeting with the board of directors about the upcoming project you had proposed in Incheon,” she explained flawlessly with so much confidence that for a second, Chanyeol would've believed she had worked under him for years.

“And after that?”

“Nothing else, sir,” she replied.

Chanyeol nodded, quickly dismissing her with a wave of his hand, which would’v